It's Good to be the Prince
by PodBayDoors
Summary: Sam gets an unusual Christmas present. This one is kind of a puzzle but all the clues are there, I promise! Sam and Jack established.


Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime / Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission.

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This is kind of a Christmas story. Well, at least I mention it. Sam & Jack established. I will admit this one is built on hints and clues, but so is all the canon surrounding Sam and Jack! And it won't make any sense until the end, either.

You're invited to the Shipmas thread at Gateworld! We'll be celebrating all things Jack & Sam for 24 hours on 12-13 starting at 0000 EST.

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**It's Good to be the Prince**

The boy peered up at the dark, weathered pylon, holding his hand up to shade his eyes. Yes, he thought, there's space up there. Plenty of space. A lopsided smirk crossed his face as he thought about his plan for the best Christmas present. Ever.

He raised his wrist and carefully snapped a photo with his comm. unit. The picture, after all, was going to be the present, the proof that he had changed a tiny bit of the past just for her. Thinking about his mom's reaction caused his little grin to break out into a full-fledged smile. Oh, sure, she was going to be pissed at first. But then she'd smile and say he was _so_ like his father and it would be mission accomplished. She didn't smile much these days and to make her happy was going to be his Christmas present to himself.

He knew he'd have to deal with Daniel, too. But he was pretty sure that all Daniel would say is that, "I _knew_ you'd be a handful. A wicked sense of humor and too damn smart for your own good." And then he'd say he never should have taught him Ancient but in the end Daniel would forgive him, too.

Then there was his dad. If _he_ knew what was going on he'd laugh his ass off, which used to shock his dad's oldest friends because they all said his dad never laughed; but the boy couldn't remember a time like that at all. His smile faded just a little and he had to blink quickly a few times, but then he got the feeling that maybe his dad really _did_ know, because the boy had heard the stories and he knew that anything was possible.

But if he was going to pull this off, he needed to move fast. He was cutting it close because he wanted to minimize the risk of significant temporal effects, although he sure didn't think that dinking around with a few inscriptions on this backwater planet could be the makings of a big galactic disaster or he wouldn't be here in the first place. He propped the ladder up against the solid structure and clambered up, holding a small laser router stolen out of his mother's lab. The boy was tall for his age, and even at sixteen was easily able to reach up and carve the additional words into the top of the post, stopping only to brush his blonde hair out of his eyes every couple of minutes. He finished quickly and then rubbed some dirt into the fresh carvings before hopping down to step back and admire his handiwork. He didn't need to take an "after" picture, because his mom would have- or rather _will_ have- seen it with her own two eyes.

The boy took the ladder down and carried it with him into the open hatch of the PJ that Walter had helped him steal for what wouldn't be more than a few seconds, then closed it up and sat down at the controls. Looking forward at the gate, he briefly contemplated going through it before jumping forward in time. Now that... that would be an even better practical joke than the one he'd just pulled off- it'd be the best one in _history_! His brown eyes glazed over at the thought of seeing the look on his parents' faces when they found out who he was. It would be so funny to see that, because if he recalled correctly, right now would have been when they were still being total idiots toward each other.

But wait- wasn't it also about now that his dad was stranded on that moon? Oh, crap, he thought. No way he'd do that to his mom- that would _not_ be cool. So he stuck with the plan, put his hands on the controls and thought about Dec. 24th, 2025.

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"You sure you don't wanna leave all this?" O'Neill asked Maybourne as SG-1 readied themselves to depart through the stargate.

"I can't abandon these people, Jack," Harry replied. "I made a life here -- I can't walk away from my home and my friends. Although I have to admit it's lonely at the top."

"Lonely?" Sam asked, trying to act interested in Harry's welfare.

"Yeah," Harry said wistfully, stopping to gaze up at the Ancient carvings on the tall stone pillars, "Look way up there. Those words that look like they could have been made yesterday."

"And the leader shall spend his days alone," Daniel read, "For the people are his children and his spouse is the land."

"Tough break, there, Harry," Jack said, slapping his friend on the back in sympathy.

"Yeah," Sam added, smiling broadly as she took a bouquet of flowers from one of the many lovely women who had accompanied them to the gate. "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."


End file.
